Blog #4- Lisa Wilson Strick

Lisa Wilson Strick’s “So What’s So Bad About Being So-So?” is about how people sometimes put too much importance on competing. Strick uses her own personal experiences with her son and her friends to set examples of how people can act when in competition mode. Strick also illustrates how hobbies are now competitive and how it’s effecting children. Children now days have professional coaches; back in her day they played sports just to have fun. Stricks purpose in writing this article is to show how Americans these days are putting too much pressure on themselves and their children to be professionals at everything they do. I personally agree with Strick’s point of view because I have firsthand experience on how competition can have a negative impact on people’s lives.

My father as always had a passion for muscle cars and is able to rebuild any car from the ground up. My father has never been into racing cars himself that much until he starting working on cars with my younger cousins. They all have their own supped up racing cars with flashy paint and loud engines. He slowly started building his own classic race car just so he could race against them and be in their car club. The first race got him hooked; the rush of going 130 miles per hour in 12 seconds flat gave him an adrenaline rush he could never walk away from. He got so competitive he lost all sight of everything else. He spent money we didn’t have and basically lived in his garage. The car was more important than his wife and kids; this caused a lot of arguing, yelling, and sometimes it even caused tears. My father is so competitive he is willing to risk his life because now he has nitro in his car and it makes him go even faster. My mother and I get so worried about him crashing and he doesn’t car as long as he is winning. I can absolutely relate to Stricks point of view due to my fathers inability to separate fun with competition.

Blog #3: Anna Quindlen

In Anna Quindlen’s “Stuff is Not Salvation” she discusses the hard economic times of the United States in the year of 2008. Qunidlen goes in to specifics about, stock-market declines, bankruptcy, foreclosures, layoffs, and the effect it has had on Americans. She illustrates her own personal experiences, to give the reader examples of how the economical hard times have affected the way people spend their money and their family values. Quindlen’s purpose for writing this article is to bring awareness to, addiction to consumption by the American people. Her solution to these nationwide issues is, simply to appreciate possessions more and to have real meaning to things, instead of materialistic reasons. I personally, understand Qunindlen’s perspective because; my family has been hit hard by the recession and is faced with debt and foreclosure.

My parents use to spend so much money on new cars, new TV’s, and materialistic items; for example, designer purses and high end car parts for my dad’s “project” car. We were living life comfortably until my mother lost her job, my dad’s hours got cut, and I lost my job as well. The money just stopped flowing in; and my parents and I went into debt with everything fast. Cell phones got turned off, Comcast channels disappeared, and no more vacations or eating out to dinner every night. Eventually, our house went in to foreclosure and was bought by a real estate company, forcing my family to relocate. It has been stressful for my family; it seems like we can never get a break, bad things just happened to us, repeatedly. After losing pretty much everything we worked for, my family somehow was able to hold on to our sanity, by supporting each other. Now, my family does not care about, not having designer bags and high end car parts. We just try to survive as a family; and we accept that we can no longer have the things we want, but only to survive off of the essentials in life. The Short’s strive for greatness, and one day we will have that opportunity to live life with no worries, no debt, and to have our cake and eat it too.

BLOG #2- AMY TAN'S "FISH CHEEKS"

In Amy Tan’s “Fish Cheeks” she describes her family experiences of cultural differences during a Christmas dinner when she was fourteen. Tan shares that she fell in love with the minister’s son and was deeply embarrassed when her parents invited the minister’s family to celebrate Christmas, Chinese style. Tan was afraid her Chinese customs would put her to shame in the eyes of the American boy she was so in love with, but in the end her mother taught her be proud of her heritage instead of having shame, just because she is different. I think Tan’s purpose in writing “Fish Cheeks” was to illustrate her experiences in feeling shame, being different because of her culture, and to teach the same lesson her mom taught her to others. The lesson was to not be ashamed because of our differences but to embrace them. Tan gained a valuable lesson in life, that she was fully able to understand more when she reached a mature age. Tan was able to look back at the Chinese Christmas dinner and appreciate her mother’s lesson and fully understand that, one doesn’t have to be ashamed because they are culturally different, but to embrace their differences. I, personally, understand Tan’s purpose because, I too have been ashamed of my cultural background in the past, and have learned from my past experiences in life.

The only time I’ve ever felt different or ashamed of my-self or culture was when I moved to Vacaville, California from Vallejo, California and had my first day as a freshman in high school. It was a hot summer day and I was hit by the heat, instead of the cool bay breeze. I was wearing a black sweater, pants and just a regular t-shirt, and all the other girls were all dressed up like they were going to a party. I felt ashamed that I didn’t have enough money to buy the nice cloths and have the nice sunglasses like everyone else did. When I lived in Vallejo everyone else was poor just like me, cloths and style didn’t matter. I also noticed that the girls were snobby and had no respect for others, I was raised the opposite of that. I wasn’t use to Vacaville’s high standards, proper learning, strict rules, and the rich snob attitude that filled the air. Most people would just start acting and dressing like everyone else, but that’s not me at all. I was completely out of place, but I adapted to my situation and stayed true to myself and who I was as a person. I learned that year, to always stay true my beliefs and never change who I am as a person to please others. My past experiences in dealing with cultural differences when I was in high school have taught me to be more open-minded, willing to learn about other cultures, and to always be true to myself, this lesson made me more mature and got me through high school successfully.

Intro

Hey everyone I’m Tiffany Short and I’m currently a student at the Art Institute in Sacramento, California for a Culinary Management Bachelors degree. After debating my dreams and passions for over three years, I came to the conclusion that the only thing I can see myself doing in five to ten years is to own my own unique restaurant. I’ve always dream about becoming famous and making millions of dollars, until I realized that I have no talents. But the one thing I’ve always wanted to learn about and was interested in was the business and culinary fields. I knew that just a business degree would be boring to me, so I decided to combine my love for cooking and my interests in business management together to get the best out of my education. I knew I wouldn’t be bored in school learning about concepts that I’m passionate about. So far it’s working out really well; I’m learning lots of new things and making lots of new friends. In my spare time I like to hang out with my friends and family, go out to the bars, play PS3, meet new people and live life to the fullest. I’m trying to find a full time job at some type of restaurant, so I can work from the bottom up as I further my education. The most important things in my life right now is to get an education, being independent  from my parents, the love and support of my family, and to just live life as best as I can. I’m a pretty open person, so if anyone wants to know anything else about me just ask.